“Do what?” I ask shakily, trying not to hyperventilate.
He looks sad. The hand holding the hatchet rests beside my ear while his other hand cups my face. “End your suffering. In a perfect world, we’d leave here together. Have those kids and that dog we talked about. Maybe even a gerbil.” He smiles in a way that makes my flesh crawl. “But this isn’t a perfect world,” he sighs. “It’s messy and unforgiving, and I know, if you had to die at anyone’s hands, you’d want it to be at mine.”
“P-please,” I stutter. “Don’t do this.”
“Shhh. It’s okay. I’ll make it quick, I promise.”
My mind races. What can I do? With his full weight on me and all the weapons beneath me… I’m fucked.
“Noah. Wait, please,” I beg.
He lifts the hatchet to the side, shaking his head sadly.
“I’ll never forget you, Courtney,” he says as I close my eyes and wait for the impact to come.
Chapter Forty One
Landon
Idon’t hesitate, not for a moment. The instant I finally round the corner and see Courtney pinned to the ground by that prick, I run, despite every step sending agony through me.
Almost in slow motion, I watch Noah raise the hatchet, readying himself to sink it into Courtney’s neck, but I dive for him, knocking him off her before sending the hatchet flying out of his hand. Courtney gasps as I pull my arm back and crack my fist into Noah’s jaw.
His head snaps back, but a crazed look fills his eyes as I hit him again and again.
An unsettling smile spreads across his face as blood pools out of his mouth. “You’re gonna have to do better than that, Landon.”
He kicks my leg before I see it coming, which sends me howling. Courtney rushes to me, gripping her side, which is soaked with blood. What the fuck happened? Did he stab her?
Courtney grabs a spear lying on the ground and throws it at Noah, narrowly missing before Savannah comes charging out of the tree line and tackles her to the ground.
Another kick slams into my shin and has my vision blurring.
Noah towers over me. “You know, I really thought we were going to be friends when we first got to the island. Guess I was wrong.”
Has he fucking lost it? He must have.
Hatchet in hand, he swings his arm back, preparing to slam it down onto me, but I roll out of the way. He tries to get me again and again, but I continue rolling away, then kick his feet out from under him with my good leg, sending him face-planting into the ground.
I hear screams and shouts behind me, but I have faith that Courtney can handle herself, so I can’t focus on that right now as I need to get the upper hand with Noah.
I reach into the backpack that’s thankfully still on me and pull out one of the hunting knives I took. Then I push myself to my feet and circle Noah like he’s prey, limping with each step.
“You want to hurt my girl? You think you can take her from me and make it out alive? Come on!” I goad him.
Noah looks at me with nothing but rage. “She’ll never be your girl!”
He attempts to tackle me, but I’m too big or he’s too weak.
I pull my arm back, then sink my blade into his side again and again. I do it so many times that I lose count, releasing all my pent-up rage with only two things on my mind.
Survival and Courtney.
When Noah stumbles backward and falls to the ground, I close the distance between us, leaning over him because I refuse to leave anything to chance.
“Fuck you,” I snarl as I drag the blade across his neck, slitting his throat. Blood sprays me and our surroundings.
Noah’s eyes go blank instantly, and his movements still as I stare down at him, my chest heaving.
